Diaz, 23, of New Brunswick, NJ is coming off a thrilling victory over former world title challenger Emmanuel Lucero on October 30 in one of the year's best clashes. The 24-year-old Kennedy (16-0, 7 KO) is coming off a 10th round stoppage of Alex Becerra in September and is known as "The Technician" for his boxing ability.

"It's a great opportunity for me to let everyone know what I'm about," said Diaz. "It's gonna be a good fight and I'm gonna win. I'm just really excited to drop bombs. I want to add some excitement to this sport."

The Kennedy fight will be Diaz's first fight back with his one-time amateur coach Joe Grier, who assisted in his corner when Diaz fought in the Northeast Regionals several years back. Grier, who trained Yuri Foreman to the world junior middleweight championship in 2009, is a staple of New Jersey boxing.

"We've been training since early December and everything's going great so far," said Diaz. "I like everything that he's taught me so far. I'm excited to show the world what I can do."

Diaz-Kennedy will be a supporting bout to the featherweight championship unification between Yuriorkis Gamboa and Jorge Solis, which will be televised by HBO.